Two women who were drugged and raped by their partners while unconscious have launched an international support group that has already attracted hundreds of members - because apparently, there's a surprisingly large club nobody wanted to join.

Zoe Watts and Amanda Stanhope, both repeatedly assaulted while unconscious, are now calling for tighter laws to stop the sharing of sexual assault images online. The National Crime Agency recently announced it had uncovered a “truly international network” of organized drug-facilitated sexual assault, identifying over 270 individuals linked to an online forum. But hey, no pressure, law enforcement.

Watts set up the support network, and within 40 days, survivors from 22 countries reached out - including 70 to 80 from the UK. “A lot of these women are asking for what the signs and symptoms are and saying: ‘Oh my god, I’ve been feeling this for years. I didn’t realise this is what was going on in my body until I found the images. I’m not going crazy,’” Watts said. Because nothing says “sanity check” like finding video evidence of your own assault.

Their campaign, End Eye Check, targets the charming practice of perpetrators pulling back victims' eyelids to show they're unconscious before assaulting them - a move that's apparently searchable online. Watts' own husband of 16 years confessed after church one Sunday that he'd been crushing their son's sleeping pills into her tea and raping her for over a decade. He's now serving 11 years. Stanhope's partner was charged with multiple rapes but took his own life before trial. She has no idea if videos of her are online, but she's pretty sure the internet is not the place for them.

Both women were inspired by Gisèle Pelicot, the French woman who waived anonymity to publicize her decade-long ordeal. Watts and Stanhope say awareness is up, but medical professionals still need education: “If you have a woman who is struggling with her memory, very, very tired, maybe feeling sick - are you thinking she could have experienced a drug-facilitated rape? Because I really don’t think they are,” Watts said.

And then there's the culture shift: “Are people looking at their friend group, and looking at their family, and thinking: are you safe tonight? Of course they’re not. They know Cheryl’s husband, Mark, and they know Rebecca’s husband, Tom,” Watts said. “And there lies the problem, because it is happening, and we’re not questioning it. We’re not even asking.” So maybe start asking. Awkward, but potentially lifesaving.